Episode 1

In the opening episode of season two, we join Lukas Mraz, Michelin-starred chef from the restaurant Mraz & Sohn and our host of the award-winning video series Hungry for More, to sample the different types of sandwiches available in Vienna. The classic Wurstsemmel (bread roll with sliced sausage) is the favorite lunchtime snack of Viennese locals. Anyone who goes into a supermarket at lunchtime will see lines at the sausage counter and hear orders for the most imaginative variations, packed into a bread roll or a pastry. Lukas Mraz tries to top that. He orders everything he needs to make his ultimate sandwich from the delicatessen counter at the gourmet supermarket Meinl am Graben. What will fit and work together in a sandwich is not just a question of taste, but also of space.

We continue to Trześniewski, where Viennese sandwich culture has been celebrated for more than 120 years. Unfortunately, how the toppings are spread on the bread rolls by hand is a secret that not even Lukas Mraz is allowed to reveal. Here, the Michelin-starred chef is in the mood for vegetarian and vegan sandwiches. At Tatarie Marie, the emphasis is on small, artistically presented beef and veal tartare pralines, but here too Lukas Mraz tastes his way through meat-free versions.

From the 1st district, we head to the 10th district, a traditionally working-class district where Ferhat Yildirim sells his legendary kebabs. High-quality meat and oven-baked bread are his recipe for success, which is why people line up around the block for a kebab. And lastly, Lukas Mraz visits “Die Cafetière”, where Peggy Strobel – Lukas’ brother’s partner – serves the legendary Schinken-Käse-Toast (ham and cheese toastie) from Haus Mraz in a smart espresso from the 1950s. Lukas Mraz indulges in some of his childhood memories...

Episode 2

It is hard to get more Viennese than the Old Danube. Here you will find a microcosm of its own – away from the glamor and chic of Vienna’s city center. But it has its own special charm. In this summery episode, we accompany Lukas Mraz and his guest Tobias Beck, who specializes in open-fire cooking at his Berlin restaurant Ember, on a culinary journey of discovery along the Old Danube. Together they explore some of the city’s hidden gastronomic highlights, from authentic Chinese cuisine at the Sichuan Chinese Restaurant to fresh Steckerlfisch at the Golfstüberl and the idyllic Kaiserwasser. To round things off, we enjoy a typically Viennese experience – a boat trip along the Old Danube in the warm glow of a sunset which almost creates a romantic atmosphere. And Lukas Mraz and Tobias Beck certainly won’t be going home hungry.

Episode 3

Can Vienna be vegetarian too? Amidst all the Viennese schnitzel, goulash and Tafelspitz? Yes, because authentic Viennese cuisine also includes vegetarian dishes. Chef Lukas Mraz simply orders all the vegetarian dishes on the menu in one Viennese bistro, or “Wiener Beisl”. And there are actually quite a few, from Krautfleckerl to Eiernockerl and from spinach pancakes to dumplings with fried eggs. The bravest diners can even try a vegetarian Wiener Schnitzel. Lukas Mraz discovers the great art of vegetarian cuisine in other places, too. He visits chef Parvin Razavi in her restaurant &flora and pays a visit to the Wrenkh brothers, whose parents were pioneers when they opened Vienna’s first vegetarian restaurant.

More about vegetarian cuisine in Vienna

Episode 4

In the second episode of his tour of Vienna’s vegetarian universe, Lukas Mraz gets to work in the kitchen himself alongside the Wrenkh brothers. He reveals the secret of what makes professional chefs so successful (they simply add more salt and butter to the food than home cooks). No, obviously not. In the video, Lukas Mraz reveals how his asparagus dish really turns out so stunning. He then pays a visit to Michelin-starred chef Paul Ivić at the TIAN restaurant. TIAN is one of the few purely vegetarian Michelin-starred restaurants in the world (something like the holy grail of vegetarian cuisine, as Mraz calls it). The non-alcoholic drinks produced here to accompany the dishes are second to none.

Selected addresses from the videos: